of rochester



F. F. DORSEY POWER MECHANISM Filed Dec. 18, 1924 a ilk -MH-M4 w ..2 0

Patented Oct. 23, 1928..

UNITED STATES 1,688,380 PATENT OFFICE.

FARNU M F. DORSEY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO NORTH EAST ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

POWER MECHANISM.

Application filed December 18, 1924. SerialNo. 756,829.

stopping, in which it is desirable that the carriage, tabular stop or other instrumentality be moved from one position to another upon the depression of a key, held in the new position so long as the key is held down, and then returned automatically to'its original position upon release of the key.

It has previously been proposed to PIOVldQ power-driven typewriters with mechanism for elevating or shifting the platen by means of a power-operated cam or the like, and to hold the platen in raised position by a latch or look, this look being withdrawn upon the release of the key; In such previous constructions the key has had to perform the double duty of controlling the power mechanism and of moving the lock, so that it could not be operated with as light a touch as the keys controlling the type-bars of the machine. One object of the present invention is to relieve the key of the duty of operating a lock, and this is accomplished by the use of mechanism in which the lock or latch is moved wholly by the powermechanism. Another object of the invention is. to produce a mechanismwhich is simple and v reliable, and also rapid and positive in action. To the foregoing ends the lnventio'n consists in the power mechanism hereinafter described, as it is defined in the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side-elevation of the essential elements of power-mechanism embodying the present invention, with the parts in normal inactive position. Fig. 2 is an endeelevationjof the camunit of the mechanism; and Fig. 3 is a detail View showing the latch in releasing position. The invention is illustrated as embodied in power mechanism designed to elevate the platen of a typewriter in order to produce the case shift-ing operation. The platen is indicated at 5, and it may be understood to be supported (upon upright members 6 of which only one is shown. Each member 6 is guided and moved by an arm 7 pivoted at 8 on the frame of the machine. In the normal lower position of the platen one of the members 6 rests upon an adjustable stop 9 on the frame of the machine.

' I e The arms 7 a e swung upwardly, to raise t e .into straight-line position to raise the platen.

The toggle is actuated by means, of a camun1t comprisinga power-lever 14. This lever consists of two parallel sheet-metal members, as shown particularly in Fig. 2 and it is pivotally mounted by means of a stud 15, turning in a bearing 16 which is fixed to the frame of the machine. A cam 17 is journalled at the lower end oft-he power-lever 14, in position to co-operate with a power-roller 18.- *This roller is rotated constantly by any suitable source ofpower.

In the normal position of thecam, as shown I .m Fig. 1, its port-ionof least radius is presented toward the power-roller, and the cam lines not engage the roller. The calnis provided, however, with two pins 19, one or the other of WhlCll is always in engagement with an arm 20, which swings between the side-members of the lever, upon a pivot-pin '21. spring 22, connected with the is ring-lever "20,-

presses the latter norma y against the lower of the two pins, so. that if the cam be'free to turn it will be rotated slightly in' a clockwise direction, and owing to its radual- 1y 1ncreasing radius, it will thereby be r'ought into frictional engagement with the powerroller.

The cam is normally held inactive by a stop-lever 23, which is also mounted to swing about the pivot-pin 21. A lateral lug 24,2117 the lower end of the stop-lever, engages a de tent 25 projecting from the side of the cam.

The upper end of the stop-lever is bent later:

ally to engage the forked end 26 of a key-lever 27 This lever is pivoted at 28, and is normally held up by a spring 29. When the key 30, upon the key-lever, is depressed, the forked end 26 is swung to the left or rearwardly, and

detent 25, so that it comes into engagement with the stop-luv 24 when the stop lug is in the position to which it has been'swung by the depression of the key. I/ The cam is thus arrested in a position in which it is provided with a that when the power-lever has swung to the right the hookedend'tl of the latch drops into engagement with the upper left-hand angle of the lever. So long as the key 30 is held down the parts are retained in the new position just described, but upon release of the .key, and the consequent rise of the key-lever, the stop-lever swings away from the detent 31 and back into the path of the detent 25. The spring-arm 20 thereupon turnsthe cam into engagement again with the power-roller, and the cam then turns through the remainder of its full rotation. The second lobe 37 of the cam is a little higher than the first lobe,

so that it causes the upper end of the powerlever to swing slightly beyond the position in which it is held by the latch '34. This additional movement causes a lug 38 on the power-lever to ride under a shoulder 39 on the latch, the necessary yielding movement of the latch being permltted by the elongation wardly as shown in Fig. 3, thus holding the v of the opening which received the pivot-pin 35; Upon the continued rotation of the cam,

the power-lever then swings to the left, and the lug 38 thereupon swings the latch uplatch momentarily clear of the power lever, so that the latter may return to its normal position, and er'mit the platen to descend.

After t e initial s11 ght rise, the second half of the cam has a smooth falling curve. The spring 13 biases the carriage and platen to 1 normal lower position, so that they impose no loadon the cam during their return. The

falling curve of'the cam controls this return movement, however, and thus prevents the" parts from moving too fast and from jarring when'arrested byv the stop.

The shift-key may be provided with the usual locking key 40 to be used in case the operator wishes the platen to remain-indefinitely in raised position. a

A substantially similar mechanism may be used to control a tabular stop or'any'other part which it is desired to hold in a given position so long as the controlling key is held down by the operators The details of the cam-controlling mechanism are not essential to the invention in its broadest aspects, and the invention is not, in general, limited to the details of construction of the illustrated embodiment thereof. j

The invention claimed is:

1. In a typewriter or the like, the combination, with a part to be moved, and a manual: ly operable key, of power mechanism com prising: ai-constantly moving power-member, and an actuating-member, connected with said part and controlled by saidkey; and

means for causing the actuating-member to be engaged with and moved by said powermember once when the'key is moved in one direction and again when the key is moved in the opposite direction, the power-mechanism acting alternately to control movement of said part from one position to another and back again.

2. In a ty'pewrlter or the like the combination, with a part to be moved, and a manually operable key, of power mechanism comprlslng': a constantly moving power-member;

an actuating-memberconnected with said.

part and controlled by said key; a lock for retaining said part in one of its positions; and meansfor causing the actuating member to be engaged with and movedby said power-member once when the key is moved in one direction and again when the key is moved in the opposite direction, the "powermechanism acting, in the one case, to "cause movement of said part from one position to another, and, in the other case, to release said lock and permit the return of said part to its first position.

3. Power-mechanism comprising: a power-roller; a cam-actuated member a cam, rotatably supported thereby, adapted to cooperate with the-power-roller but normally disengaged therefrom; and means forengaging the cam with the roller and for arresting its rotation after each of a succession of partial rotations; the cam being formed to move the cam-actuated member away from the roller during one partial rotation and to permit the return of said member during the next partial rotation.

4. Power-mechanism comprising: a power-roller; a cam-actuated member a cam, rotatably supported thereby, adaptedto co-operate with the power-roller but normally disengaged therefrom, -the cam having a pcriphery formed to provide first a rise, then a recess, then a second. rise and,,finally,;a fall; controlling means for engaging the cam with the roller and for arresting its movement either when at the beginning of its first said rise or at the point where said recess is present'ed toward the roller; and means for holding the cam-actuated member retracted,-

when the cam is in the latter arrested position. 4 5. Power-mechanism, as. in ficlaim 4, in

bias toward normal position; a manually op-- erable key; and cam-controlling means controlled by said key and arranged to engage the cam with the roller and to arrest its movement twice in each full rotation; the cam having a smooth rising portion to move said 7 part from normal position during one partrotation of the cam, and a smooth falling portion to control the return of said part to normal position during the second part-rotationof the cam.

7. In a typewriter or the like, powermechanism comprising: a power-driven-roller, a cam 'cooperable therewith and having two: rising portions and two intermediate dwell portions; connections between said cam and a part to be actuated thereby; spring-controlled means tending to "rotate the cam into engagement with the roller; and' manually-operable controlling means, for the cam, comprisinga part having a single abutment and movable,'in opposite di-- rections, into two definite positions;ithe cam being provided with two stoplugs arranged to cooperate alternately with said abutment in the two respective positions of said part,v

to arrest the cam with its dwell portions successively adjacent to the roller.

8. Power-mechanism, for a typewriter or the like, comprising a cam provided with a plurality of operative lobes and with intermediate dwell portions; I a power-driven roller cooperable with the cam; and manually-operable control mechanism for the cam, constructed and arranged to cause engagement of the cam with the roller, when a manua1l -operated part ismoved in one direction, and arrest of the cam at one of its dwell points; and to cause similar engagement and arrest at the next succeeding dwell point, when the manually-operated part is moved in the opposite direction.

9. In a typewriter or the like, the combination, with a part to be moved, having a bias toward a normal position, and with a mann ally-operable member, ofa lock for retainingsaid part in a position to which it has been moved in opposition to said bias; and poweractuated mechanism, controlled by said manually-operable member and arranged to operate at each movement thereof in each direction, said. mechanism acting alternately, at successive operations, to move said part from normal position into locked position, and to release said lock and permit return of said part to normal position.

10. Power mechanism comprising: a power-driven roller; a cam, cooperative with said roller, having a plurality of lobes and inter mediate dwell-points; means tending to ro tate the cam into engagement with the roller;

and means, for controlling such rotation,

comprising detents, on the cam, corresponding in number to the lobes thereof and located alternately at greater and lesser distances from the axis. of rotation of the cam,

and a relatively stationary-stop cooperative with said detents and movable alternatively into the two paths of movement of the deand again at each return of the key; and connections, between the power-mechanism and said part, for controlling movements of said part in opposite directions at successive opcrations of the power mechanism.

FARNUM F. DORSEY. 

